South Sound Critter Care/Puget Sound WildCare

Mission

To enhance the preservation of animals (both wild and some small domestic) in King/Pierce Counties and surrounding areas in W. WA by providing education & environmental advocacy in the community through people, one person at a time. We have educational opportunities for the public as well as college internships & we operate  a feline adoption program that takes feral mama cats and their litters and places them in forever homes & we operate a regional wildlife rehabilitation center.  

Description

South Sound Critter Care,  was established in December of 2009 to provide care for just over 125 native wildlife species & select domestic animals that typically fall through the cracks in King and Pierce Counties. People call with wildlife problems and we educate them and assist them to solve their problems. In 2016, we  did a DBA (doing business) name to Puget Sound WildCare.  Annually,  we host 15-20 college interns who are looking to get a start in some aspect of wildlife conservation, wildlife medicine or are Pre-Veterinary interns. Inagurated in summer of 2012, the program has become well established. Our interns come from all over the United States and from other countries.  By the end of 2018, we had received 15,552 wild animals & over 700 "other species".  The program was suspended in 2018 and returned to service on March 1st, 2023.  A new metric to shed light on the amount of care provided is "days in care" (for each animal) and then added for all animals.  In 2023, we have tallied 11,766 days in care for wildlife.

Presently, we are accepting non-migratory birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians needing care. We receive ~ 3,000 calls annually for assistance & advice on wildlife problems. Additionally, having no local wildlife shelter for most species in our neck of the woods people need a convient place to help them with wildlife. We work with other humane groups to allow cats & kittens a second chance through adoption. Annually, we provide foster care, shelter and adoption services for between 150 & 200 domestic felines (kittens & adults).  We place them into indoor only homes so they do not eat wild birds.  Other species range from escaped exotic  birds from escaped or injured  peacocks, pheasants, ducks and geese and well, a variety of animals needing assistance.  We have 33 outdoor enclosures for wildlife rehabilitation.   In '24 we have added two flights for bat species and two for young beaver/muskrats.  We need for more help to provide for wildlife in need of help in  the South Sound.  

Located on two sites, we are developing our permanent campus. Our plan is to develop a community-based wildlife rehabilitation facility, a nature center & continue the South Sound Critter Care with a local kitten shelter. Additionally, we plan to build an interns apartment to house up to 8 interns on site.  US College students come to participate and for those that come from afar, having housing available is critical.  Some times they stay with relatives & there is some university housing available for the summer. Some have resorted to temporary rentals that are expensive. They work full-time for 3 months to gain valuable hands-on experience  they they can launch into their first post-grad job.  We help them get that first job and support them in their efforts.  We would like to raise $1,500 to help our interns with the high cost of gasoline spent while doing  their work  & provide them with work T-shirts that they take with them. They are an essential part of our work force.

Presently, we  have a need for a set of 2  enclosures for water mammals (Adult Beaver/River Otter).  These two pens are 40' L and up to 25' wide & will have in ground pools that are 8' Wide  and 12-15' Long and offer a graduated shallow entry to 4' Deep (with built-in commerical water filters).   Without them animals may have no place to go and subsequently be euthanized or be left without help in South Sound. We have the space, we just need  funding.  Can you help us here?  This set of enclosures will cost $200,000. Every $100 helps get us to that goal. We could build one and then the other later if funds were limited and partial funding can be useful in grants so every little bit helps!
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Puget Sound WildCare is a 501(c)(3), tax-deductible, non-profit registered in Washington. We rely on volunteers, donations, grant & legacy gifting to operate our programs.  Please consider a monthly donation,  even $10 a month provides a more stable funding base to plan our future.

Recognition

Puget Sound WildCare is so grateful for both our organizational/corporate supporters as well as our Board of Directors who support us financially. However, without individual community donors, we would be lost. From local supporters at Fred Meyers, employee support programs, to Puget Sound Energy and others,  it takes a village to support community based programs. We are so thankful for the broad community support that we have received.